When I saw this on the front page of MFGG, I was already a bit worried from the icon. Considering it looked like it was made in Microsoft Paint, I didn't come in with very high expectations. However, the description did promise a "big update" with 3 new modes, and "more to come in the future." So here I am.

Pros

- Exactly what it says on the box- Functional high score system- Easy to get right back into the game- Mario, Luigi, and Fox voice lines

Cons

- No way to back out from a game mode without quitting the game altogether- New modes that are just reskins- Master Mode is just enemy spam- Some odd design choices- Infinite Melee shine noises from Fox- Little to no replayability

Impressions

Gameplay4 / 10

It's pretty much exactly what the title says it is. You just click on the happy heads and avoid the angry ones, while also trying to beat your high score. It's not terrible, but it's not good either.

Classic Mode is exactly what's described on the label: catch the Mario while avoiding the angry ones.

Master Mode is just Classic Mode, but with enemy spam.

Luigi Mode is probably the best out of the 3 added modes. While it's just Classic Mode once again, it has a palette swap to make it Luigi. This combined with some new Luigi voice lines is a nice touch.

No Items Fox Only Final Destination is.. interesting. Like Luigi Mode, it has another palette swap to make it feature Fox combined with new voice lines to make it sound like.. well, Fox. However, it also has an added Final Destination backdrop paired with a barrage of shines from the Foxes that are likely to drive you mad.

Personally, I'd say improve on the core mechanics first before adding new modes.

Graphics3 / 10

The graphics are very reminiscent of a bad Flash game. While I like how on the Final Destination mode you can see the shines coming out of Fox, that's where the good additions end.

As I said previously, the goal of the game is to click on happy heads while avoiding the angry ones. This concept may seem hard to mess up, but it's just so hard to tell which ones are angry and which ones are happy due to the incredibly minimal change (besides on Final Destination, where the angry Foxes have red shines coming out of them). The only real difference is some angry eyes. Couldn't there be a tinge of red on the angry heads at least?

Sound4 / 10

While the majority of MIDIs used aren't that bad, some of them can be really repetitive. For example, the track that plays in Classic mode just loops over and over.

However, in the Final Destination mode the sound design can be really irritating. I get it, it's a jab at Melee. But the shine sounds can only go for so long before becoming really annoying. I mean, those sounds completely overshadow the music in the background, so if that's not implying anything, I'm not sure what would.

I do appreciate the added Mario and Luigi voice lines, though.

Replay2 / 10

Being an arcade styled game, the main reason for replay here is to beat your high score. However, you really won't be trying to do this with the boring concept the game is based around.

The main reason for the 2.0 label seems to be the additional modes that were added with the update. I can only assume these were added to bring variety and replayability, but the new modes bring neither. While I did go to check out all the new modes, they didn't give me any real reason to come back and play some more.

Final Words

Catch the Mario 2.0 is the kind of game you'll play once, then never again.